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With Facebook now enabling people to choose who receives updates, has the main attraction of switching to Google+ been made redundant? Plus, is Google hindering itself?

My problem with Facebook is that I've got great friends on there, business associates, family and people who are, frankly, complete strangers. My mum keeps wanting to be Friends but as much as I want her to see my family photos, there are very many pictures and discussions that I don't want her to see. Same goes for work colleagues.

The simple fact is that I'd love to tell people what I'm doing and where I'm at, but I don't trust all my Friends not to use that information for burglary purposes and social engineering my private information - think overclocking acquaintances from Russia.

I trust my friends. But not all my Facebook Friends. There is a very real difference.

Google seemed to get this with its fantastic circles idea. But Google's implementation has been wanting to say the least.

Google+ is appearing at the same time as Google's separation of Google Personal and Google Apps accounts. I'm trying to think of a more-ABC-suitable word than clusterf**k to describe this process but I really can't.

What happened was, people signed up for Google accounts which let them do personal type things and other Google accounts which let them do business type things.

With the same email addresses.

Now, some of the personal services are being split from business services so you have to set up yet another account while your existing accounts have been split into temporary accounts.

This is at the same time as Google introducing us to profiles - where you add personal information to your personal Google accounts. But this is only compatible with temporary accounts and not the business accounts. Supposedly.

Following? It took me weeks of piecing this together. I don't blame you if you're lost.

At the same time (again), Google decided that people had to have real names and that anything that sounded like a pseudonym or an avatar would be banned.

I won't tell you what Australian tech writer, Stilgherrian called Google when it questioned the validity of his name. But I can show you. Google is getting a bit better in this regard, but there's still heaps of animosity.

At the same time (again), it was announced that companies couldn't have a Google+ account. Yet. And some organisations got in trouble for this and ditched large followings.

People like me, who had the temerity to sign up for Google accounts using the same email address, are stuck in limbo with Google+.

I can't access it on my phone which is one of the places social media works best. Because I've been forced to create extra Google accounts which apparently do different things, my phone - which is a Google Android based phone - won't let me sign into Google+ because the Google-made Google+ app keeps trying to access Google+ on my old Google Apps account which Google forced me to change but still apparently exists in some parallel dimension.

So even the Google+ app, which is made by Google, on the Google Android phone is confused about which Google account it's supposed to be looking at. Bless it.

Somewhere there is an engineer at Google screaming at the wall, yelling, "I told them this would happen!"

So Google+'s impressive launch saw it stumble over a few things. But it still seems to be going strong.

Nonetheless, it is looking a bit Google Wave like. For those who can't remember, Wave was Google's attempt to re-imagine email. It did all sorts of cool things except make use of existing email. Consequently, you had to spend time learning the new system and hope that everyone you ever communicated with used it too. Loads of people signed up after a desperate clambering for prestigious invites. All us tech journos sent a giant Wave-based collaborative email to each other... and then never used it again.

Hopefully the same won't happen with Google+ but there are some disturbing similarities. For all the people I have following me and who I follow (I can follow everyone back on Google+ -just like Twitter) only the same two friends are bothering to post anything. Everyone else seems to have signed up, hung around for a while, and left.

But I still get notifications that people have found me and want to follow me. That's pretty cool and I follow them back quite happily. To this end it's like Linked In: something I go to once every three months to accept invitations and find recommended contacts. It's fun. But that's literally all I ever do on Linked In.

Google+ still has some alluring features what with its hybrid Facebook-cum-Twitter nature. To have Twitter-type followers that I can very easily segregate from Facebook-type followers is great. It would be good to have a status update stream that allowed me to mute circles though. I have seven circles which I care deeply about and I don't want to have to choose which to view. But I have a massive stranger circle which I don't want flooding that stream. I can't be the only one waiting for that.

However, with Facebook essentially copying Google's Circles - and I'm not sure copy is the right word as it was such an obvious step - it does severely dent one of Google's main attractions. There's still its ability to gain followers like Twitter but even that's under threat from Facebook.

Facebook is making noises about taking on Twitter - public status updates are another obvious step and one can't imagine it will be much longer before that happens. There will have to be an overhaul of some kind as Facebook has a follower count limit of 5,000. Doing this would curtail another advantage of Google+.

It's certainly not all doom and gloom for Google+. On the one hand, with all of its hundreds of millions of Google accounts, it pretty much already has a network that's ready to be turned into a social network. It's just the integration of its existing products, like Gmail, and Apps-based contacts that it needs to get right. And it resolutely hasn't so far. Perhaps Google+ was a bit rushed out because if Facebook had pre-empted circles then Google+ would have launched as a semi-lame duck.

I can see Twitter taking a bit of a hit from casual users and celebs if Facebook does copy it, but it's too useful as a wire service for it to be damaged much. Its simplicity should keep it fresh and popular.

But then there are also Facebook's privacy issues, conservative nature and stringent rules. Banning pictures of people in swim suits and saying that relatively-conservative burlesque photos are too racy have led some to question its suitability as a world-owning monolith. There are also stringent business practice rules and Judge Dredd-like dictators ruling the roost - banning things with no notice and with little explanation coupled with a nightmare appeals process. It all leaves space for more-open platforms. This is especially the case for communities like hackers who would rather eat their own arms than trust Facebook or people who like the idea of chatting to their favourite porn stars... and presumably many examples in between.

That said, with 100 million Google+ accounts being expected to be in use by the end of the year, it should ride through these teething troubles. So long as people keep using it.

Ultimately, Facebook's announcement means I can finally Friend my mum (I quickly gave up explaining Google+ to her) and tell real friends what I'm doing. Hopefully the new features will start appearing in social media clients and aggregators like Tweetdeck too so that I can seamlessly read all updates in one place - something Google+ seriously needs to have happen.

I'll still check in with Google+ for the coming months. But whether it will truly be useful, or become another Linked In to me, remains to be seen.

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Comments (15)

Miowarra :

16 Sep 2011 6:29:03am

I'm not urgently driven to get onboard one or the other, so I'm happy to wait until the discussions between you good folk reveal to me that ONE of them has finally come up with a package that suits my needs.

In the meantime, I'll find a nice damp rock to live under. You're welcome to visit if you can find it but I'm not going to advertise the address.

Rachel :

15 Sep 2011 11:38:28am

I think it's definitely true that Google+ is capitalizing on some less-known features...like the video chat + Youtube feature. I mean, Facebook Video Chat Rounds has been doing this for awhile and yet, Google+ is getting a lot of hype over that feature.

Rachel :

15 Sep 2011 11:37:32am

I think it's definitely true that Google+ is capitalizing on some less-known features...like the video chat + Youtube feature. I mean, Facebook Video Chat Rounds has been doing this for awhile (see here: http://www.rnds.me/bc ) and yet, Google+ is getting a lot of hype over that feature.

petra :

15 Sep 2011 11:04:11am

I'm glad I'm a semi-hermit these days and don't have to bother with all this stuff. For me, it seems that the sillier and more complicated things become on the net, a-la the above article, the more I can ignore it and go for things that are alive, tactile and beautiful.

Yup, I'm at the peace-and-quiet and gardening stage, returning also to books and paints and sewing machines. Oh joy, the relief! after the battles I've had with twaddle such as Facebook and Google.

Kyung_min :

15 Sep 2011 3:53:59am

Some other aspects:

Google has the best search engine, controls youtube (if i'm not wrong) and has a long standing and entrenched email system. While i f***** hate them i think they might have lost the battle but they could veryw ell win the war.

Integrating Searches, Youtube, Shopping (ebay, amazon), Google maps and Gmail in one convneient and manageable account that allows for a functionality that's braod and easy to manipulate with a signigficant amount of storage i'd put money on Google.

All these issues can be fixed and i think the only issue for google is possibly money and time to implement this.

Now Facebook can counter this to keep people by having a good photo and email system. The ability to distinguish levels of intimacy and information sharing and by implementing and buying places of user-generated content (i.e an opositional website to youtube for example). I think for facebook this is costly and would need to be as good as Google's content if not much better.

I think FB here for a while and i certainly see a lot of people hesitiant to use G+ at the moment. Such users being less tech savvy people (i.e my 80 yr old grandfather who has FB).

These are just some other aspects to the debate. I'm not saying anything is concrete of course and who knows another party could come into the fray!

John M Poltrack :

14 Sep 2011 10:47:17pm

I had created quite an extensive infrastructure using my google app account (blogs, docs, websites, email accounts, photo albums etc) then I discovered I could not create the profile that is needed for G+. I dusted off my old gmail account, set forwarding address etc. I love G+ but they need to fix this immediately.

John Poltrack :

26 May 2012 9:01:54am

UPDATE: All is well, all the changes are in place and the new GUI is slick. I have a few pages based upon topics (Garden, Family, Region) and it is great. I'm on a strict FB diet, only visiting to post ads for my store.

Kyung-Min :

14 Sep 2011 10:24:25pm

They're both lame when it comes to your privacy and that's a fact. If you honestly think Google or facebook won't play around weith privacy and you don't think they are unsucceptible (sp/) to hacks and thefts you're very mistaken.

We need a user friendly and free-ware type version. But that's just unrealistic.

How do i a non Fb and G+ user survive - well it's bloody hard. I use Emails. 3 One for Intimate, one for Work/Business/professional and one for Less known people. It's a tedious exercise i know.

I also use MSN and i have all people on it, but subdivided and i use a sofrtware like Pidgin to use it. Sadly people asre solely using Skype or FB now meaning i will need to get FB, Skype and G+ it seems. Which is bullshit anyway.

Dermott :

14 Sep 2011 6:43:15pm

It's nice to see I'm not the only one who sees memories of Wave in G+. But then, at least Wave didn't take a dislike to my name (as G+ has done) and disabled aspects of Picasa & Google Reader.Google's implementation of G+, and the resulting "nym wars" have stripped Google of their "benign omnipresence" image. Now, their early users (and that means a high percentage of the techno-literate crowd) have a bad taste in their mouth, and may take some hefty convincing to encourage them back.It's one of the greatest in-the-foot shootings since the day Eve-Online released a patch that wiped the hard drives of their user base.

Tangram :

14 Sep 2011 6:17:29pm

Nick, I agree on all fronts G+ is going the way of Wave. While we, the early adopters, have our G+ accounts running, there are 10 times as many people waiting to come across when G+ fixes these basic things.

The initial burst of enthusiasm is over. Google should have fixed all these basic elements within a couple of weeks of launch. But we still have:

- inability to mute a stream from the circle - Google Personal and Google Apps conflicts - what a mess, especially if you want to use Google Apps with your own domain name and find yourself locked out of G+ - Photo management insanity. The permissions and groups functionality between G+ and Picasa will drive you crazy.

Nemo :

14 Sep 2011 2:23:00pm

I find the biggest problem with Facebook is there horrible the fact that they own everything you post. Pictures included. And it's all right in their TOS. Their privacy still sucks, because most people can't figure out how to secure stuff. The ONLY reason a lot of people are still on Facebook, is because of the lack of choices. Google+ is rather new and they haven't really pushed it through advertising well yet. After getting it myself, there is NO way I will ever touch Facebook again! Google has everything you need,... docs, email, games, tons of others and now a social medium. I hope Facebook drops dead like MySpace did....

On a side note, if you miss MySpace at all, Tom can be in your circle on G+, just like old times... :)

Ratatoskr :

14 Sep 2011 12:12:19pm

I find Google+ to be more useful as a work tool than any other social network. It's still got a way to go, but because of the easier control over who sees what, it's pretty handy for sharing work related stuff with colleagues without sharing social details and embarrassing photos. I think the hangout feature could be very handy too, though I haven't actually tried it yet.

I wonder whether any one social network will have quite the same dominance as facebook has enjoyed in years to come, as more sites are created to cater for different needs and wants all the time, social networking could start to go (more) the way traditional media is going, as people want more tailored options and less of a 'one sizes fits all' type of interaction. Can there really be 'one social network to rule them all'?

The Bludger :

14 Sep 2011 11:24:13pm

I was very enthusiastic about Google+, but struggling to find any relevance for it.Ordinary Google for Picasa and other bits.Facebook for friends and family and some acquaintences, e.g. previous work mates.LinkedIn for professionals.G+ does not cut it and FB is not for serious business.

Roddy Healy :

14 Sep 2011 11:47:21pm

Facebook have already demoed the Twitter thing. Last week, a field appeared on the right of the newsfeed for~12 hours that detailed the most recent conversations from your friends...even in closed groups of which you are not a member and with third parties you don't know. I don't know if the FB team were monitoring the reaction, but they pulled it pretty quickly. No doubt it will be back after a bit of fine-tuning.

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